It has long been known to package electrical wire including pairs of electrical wires having particular utility in the blast initiation field in what is referred to as a "figure of eight" winding, so noted because the product is in fact arranged in a package having overlying turns with the appearance of a figure 8, with reversals of direction of wire orientation on each layer and it is believed that such a winding pattern for packaging has been in use for more than 100 years. It is generally conceded that such figure 8 arrangements provide comparatively tangle-free deployment of the cord or wire contained therein. The typical prior art figure 8 package pattern has crossovers through the center of the coil that serve to keep the coil in layered sequence and reverse the direction of the circular portion of the wind so that any twist induced during preparation of the cord package is reversed during deployment to produce the desired tangle-free dispensing.
Cord products are also made subject to generally circular winding for packaging and are often put in coils or wound onto a spool so as to produce the desired ease of deployment. When using spools or similar special packaging, increased cost becomes a major consideration and disposal of spools increases required labor. So-called "coreless" packaging including unique winding patterns which produce the self-supporting feature of the product coil often produce significant difficulties in dispensing resulting in tangles, kinks, etc.
A further major packaging factor is utilization of a cord winding and packaging arrangement for cord that is provided with attachments, end fittings or devices at each end which form a part of the product to be dispensed from the package. Commonly, blast initiation cords which are used in mining and the construction industries generally have at least one end fitting which must be accommodated in the package. Finally, producing a package which is sufficiently compact and "dense" as to minimize the space that is occupied by the package and its end fittings is a matter of considerable importance when shipping and storing product.